The second quarter quell
by Shadowhuntergames
Summary: Its the second quarter quell and Kaniss and Peeter have to go back into the games, but two others from their district are coming with them...
1. The announcment

**A/N: Heyy just a short taster, please review and tell me what you think :) xox **

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><p>The announcement:<p>

Today's the day. I braid my hair down my back in its normal style and try to see me through the fake smile in the mirror. This is my first year as a mentor and I don't know what to feel, I know that Peter is feeling the same way, it's his first year too.

We both won the Games last year through a (not so smart) idea of mine, which has followed me every day since. Now I have to be very careful about what I say and do. If I make one mistake my family will pay for it. I love my mum- even if I don't fully trust her just yet- but I love my little sister more than anyone in the world. I will do anything to protect her, even volunteer when she got picked for the games.

This year it's the quarter quell which means something horrible will happen to make the already unbearable games even worse. It comes every 25 years and there has never been one in my life before now.

Today is the 50th anniversary and a special announcement will be made in the town square at 2 o'clock, the mayor will read out the letter sent from Snow himself to announce what this quells horrors would be. This happens 12 days before the reaping, one day for each district. It is mandatory, except if you are badly injured or on your death bed, so as usual quite a few people will be missing it.

After I am happy with how I look, I walk down the stairs and throw myself into one of the kitchen chairs helping myself to cereal. My little sister, Prim, comes down two minutes later and walks over to give me a hug. I hold her, knowing that I am safe when she isn't, I can't volunteer for her this year if she is chosen, and the thought makes me shiver. I am safe and she isn't, and I can't protect her if something goes wrong and some cruel twist of fate choses her again. I hate being this useless.

Eventually, I leave Prim and my mother doing the dishes and step outside into the warm summer breeze. I see Peter come out of his house and walk over to him. We don't need any words, he laces his fingers through mine and we start to walk towards the square. I still don't know what I feel for Peter, but I know he's my good friend and I know he is one of the few people that I trust.

We take our seats on the stage and watch the crowd fill up, splitting into the two sections of the girls and the boys. I see Prim standing by herself and want to run over to her, to envelope her in a hug that would protect her from the darkness and the sad, sick, twisted people who like to kill children for their own entertainment. Rage boils up inside me until Peter squeezes my hand and I relax. I look out over the boys section and see Gale standing there; he looks at me and gives a little nod, showing me that he's ok. This is his last year. God please just let him survive, don't pick him. I pray for Gale and Prim the whole way through the mayor's speech, realising half way through that Haymich decides to join us, drunk as usual but, well, at least he's here, but I stop thinking when the Mayor takes out a golden card, hiding what this year will bring.

I see him take out a slip of paper from the envelope and he is moving so slowly I just want to run and snatch the thing off him, but I stay where I am sitting. He takes a deep breath and, looking pale reads, "The 2nd quarter quell will double the number of children sent into the arena..." I stop breathing, everything around me slows down, I vaguely hear people gasping and sobbing until we all realise the mayor has more to say, "Two of these children, one boy and one girl, will be from the district, and the other two, one boy and one girl…" he has to stammer out the last words, "will be from the victors village."

My heart stops.

One boy.

Haymich or Peter?

One girl.

Me.


	2. 12 days

**A/N: Heyy here's the second chapter, a bit longer than the first :) please R&R xoxox**

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><p>Peter literally has to drag me off the stage, and as soon as we are out of site, he realises I'm not going to be able to stand much longer and picks me up. He carries back to my house, nearly dropping me as he opens the door and lies me down on the sofa, holding me while I get the tears and screams out before Prim comes home.<p>

Little Prim. What's she going to think about this, when I came back last year she had dark circles under her eyes where she had hardly slept. I promised her I was coming out but how could I do that this year with skilled killers in that hell hole with me?

Then it hit me.

I wasn't coming out this time. I won last year by luck, hiding with Peter most of the time, he was the only thing keeping me sane. I decide I want Haymich to come with me, that's one less thing to worry about.

I finally manage to calm down and Peter goes to get me something warm to drink, I wonder how he can stay calm throughout all of this. He probably thinks that he can get out of it this time, Haymich can take his place. But no, Peter doesn't think like that.

"So what are we going to do?"

The voice behind me makes me jump. I guess I was daydreaming more than I thought. I spin around and Peter gives me a lob-sided smile,

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you" My heart hiccups at his smile but I manage to get my breathing under control as he hands me the drink and sits down beside me, wrapping his arms around me. I snuggle into him and think about what it would be like to stay like this forever. I decide I wouldn't mind that. At all.

"You can't come with me" I blurt out, I fell him stiffen behind me and then relax, rubbing small circle's on the back of my hand with his thumb.

"I thought you'd say that"

"You can't" I repeat,

"Katniss" his tone does not help my racing heart, "You know I'm coming with you" he whispers.

"Please don't come, I don't want you there, it's bad enough one of us is going back." I try pleading with him for the next half an hour but I know it's useless. He usually lets me get my way, but I can tell he's not going to let me win this time.

I'm just starting to doze off in Peter's arms when I hear the front door opening, my mother walks in first, holding back tears as she looks at me and Peter. Prim walks out from behind her and I have no idea how she's feeling, as always. Unlike me, she manages to keep all her emotions from showing on her heart shaped face.

She runs at me and even with her small legs, gets to me in seconds. She launches herself onto my lap and I hold her like I wanted to before the announcement. Apart from this time, I can't keep the darkness away from her. And I hate myself for it.

"shh it's ok" I say into her hair, I can feel her shaking beneath me. Peter quietly slips me off his lap and walks into the kitchen with my mother to make more warm drinks, I can tell this is going to be a long night.

"Why are they doing this to you?" Prim sobs, I hold her at arm's length and tilt her head so that she is looking me in the eyes,

"Promise me you will be strong"

"I promise" I hear her whisper.

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><p>I wake up with Prims head in my lap and we're still on the sofa from last night. I wriggle out from underneath her, making sure she is still asleep and stand up, pain shoots up my back and I gasp. Hobbling into the kitchen I find that Peter has fallen asleep at the table and I gently shake him awake.<p>

He smiles up at me and makes some hot chocolate for both of us. We sit at the table and he takes my hand,

"I know you don't want me to come, but I'm not leaving you to go by yourself" I scowl at his words and he laughs at my expression, leaning over to kiss me. It's only a short kiss, between good friends, but I can feel it means a lot more to him than it does to me.

We finish our hot chocolate and Peter goes home to get some real sleep, but I go upstairs to take a shower. I need to be outside today. I change into my hunting outfit, putting on my father's coat and grab my bag before heading out.

I'm climbing under the fence in the meadow when I hear the peacekeeper running towards me. I decide that I'm going to die soon anyway so I just carry on, running towards the forest just as the peacekeeper reaches the fence.

I keep running until I'm gasping for air, then I just lie down on the forest floor, not caring if an animal came and took me away.

I can tell I've been like this for a long time, I'm out of energy and I finally feel hands underneath me, lifting me into strong arms. I know it's Gale before I even see his face, and he carries me to the little hut by the lake. He wraps a blanket around me and starts to build a fire in the small fireplace my father built.

He sits with me for a long time, the fire eventually burns out and as the sun is going down it's getting colder and colder.

"I'm going back into the games" I state the obvious, _well done Katniss, always knew you were smart,_

"I know" _Well this conversation is going well_

"I'm not coming out this time"

"I know" _Well, at least he's honest._

"Will you look out for Prim when I'm gone?" He looks at me and I can see his eyes are smiling,

"Ok wrong question" I look down at my lap,

"Yes it was" he says, and then all of a sudden, we're laughing. After everything that's happened we are both lying on the floor laughing until our stomachs hurt. And I like it, Gales one of the few people that I can be myself around. We walk back to the district smiling and when my stomach growls he starts laughing again,

"Hungry?"

"Hey I haven't eaten since this morning!" I protest,

"Well then I think It's time for dinner" He walks over to one of his traps and takes out the rabbit, I build a fire while he skins our dinner, we work together, not needing to talk to each other about it, just knowing what the other person is going to do, until we sit down to eat.

"How's Prim?" Gale has always treated Prim as a little sister, I know that when I'm gone he can take care of her but I need to know for sure,

"Upset that I'm going, she promised she would be strong but she's going to need you"

"I'm not going to leave her alone" We both smile, as much as Prim loves Gale, when he's around her all the time she gets anxious, I never knew why so I asked her, she told me,

"I always think he's trying to catch me out on something, and he's so quiet that I never know if he's near or not" I laughed at that because Gale is quiet, and that's why he was such a great hunting partner.

When I told him he laughed as well and since then, whenever he was round our house he would hide and jump out at her when she came round the corner. She doesn't like it when he's round all the time now, but she still loves him like a brother.

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><p>We finish the rabbit and head back to my house. As soon as I open the door Peter rushes at me and I can see the crazy look in his eyes. Apart from my family, both Peter and Gale have a key to my house, I didn't give one to Haymich as I usually go round to his if we need to talk and anyway if he really needed to get in, he could always pick the lock.<p>

"Katniss, where have you been? I went home and slept and I came here to check on you and you were gone and so was Prim and your mother, I looked in town and at your house" He looked at Gale, "And I couldn't find you anywhere, your mum" Again looking at gale, "Said you had gone to the woods so I guessed you were there with him but she hadn't seen your mother or Prim all day, and I can't find them! They haven't been home all day!"

My mother hardly ever leaves the house and Prim is usually home by dark anyway. My stomach ties into knots and I know something is wrong. And then I remember. The peacekeeper. If he couldn't get to me past the fence, he would get to me some other way.

Peter is gripping my shoulders and Gale is standing behind me, but I push past them both and run out of the house towards the justice building. When I get there I'm out of breath and have to wait doubled over for a few agonizing seconds before I can talk. I beg the peacekeeper to let me in, he seems to be expecting me and I follow him towards a flight of stairs. We walk down to the bottom before going through a door and turning right down a corridor, we walk through a maze for what I guess to be 10 minutes until he stops by a door on my left.

He doesn't move just stands by the door, facing me but not meeting my eyes. I walk through the door to find my mother and Prim sitting on the floor of an empty room, the walls are bear and there wasn't even anything for them to sit on. Prim is curled up in a ball and my mother has her arms wrapped around her. I can't believe that my mistake had caused this. But I knew I shouldn't be surprised, President Snow hates me for ruining his games and will take every opportunity to torture me.

Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. I think I heard someone say that once. Well I now believe it, as Snow himself walks into the room.

I move so that I'm standing in between Snow and my family, but as soon as I do my mother jumps up and stands in front of me, always the element of surprise. My mother doesn't know the extent of how much Snow hates me, but she knows we aren't best buddies.

He smiles at my mother's protectiveness,

"I'm not here to harm you, however Miss Everdeen, you were seen today breaking the law, we understand your need to train yourself before the big day, but you cannot go around setting a bad example. You will be held here until I say."

That was what he thought I was doing? Training? Now that I thought of it I had to kick myself. Of course I should be training, I was going back, wasn't I? I felt so stupid, I had wasted one of my twelve precious days sitting in a cabin. How the hell was that supposed to help me in the arena?

"And what about my mother and sister?" I ask,

"They will be let go, see we only wanted you Miss Everdeen" Somehow I don't think he is only talking about getting me to the justice building.

My mother doesn't look like she's going anywhere but I give her a gentle push, and she picks up Prim and leaves, leaving me alone with Snow.

"I wasn't training" I say, I know it's useless, he doesn't care,

"I know, you were in the woods with that friend of yours, Gale isn't it?" I couldn't believe it, he knew? Then why was I here? I nod just to get the conversation over with. I want him to leave. Now. I know I'm going to be here for a while and I don't want him stinking out the place with his blood and rose scent.

He leaves and I hear the lock click, I sit on the floor with my back to the wall, and only then do I realise how cold the room is.

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><p>That is how I spent the rest of my twelve days, locked away in a prison, someone brings me food three times a day, but no one visits, I suspect that has something to do with snow. The only way I know when the days are passing is when my food comes; there are no windows in the room, the only light coming from the flickering lamp in the corner.<p>

On the twelth day a peacekeeper comes to collect me. I walk behind him back through the maze of the justice building until we reach the door. I walk to the square and it's so quiet that I don't expect anyone to be there, I turn the corner and find every pair of eyes in district twelve focused on me.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you liked it :) R&R! **

**xo**


	3. The Reaping

**A/N: Heyy just a short chapter for the reaping, will update more soon hopefully :)**

**xoxo**

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><p>I froze.<p>

Peter stood up, walking off the stage and walked over to me, holding out his hand. I gratefully took it and he helped me onto the stage, the eyes following us as we moved. I could tell I was staring back and should probably look where I was going so I didn't fall over and make a fool of myself, but I knew Peter would catch me anyway if I did.

He sat on his chair and pulled me onto his lap and for once I didn't protest, I caught sight of Gale scowling and frowned at him. I didn't see why he would mind, I hadn't felt anything other than friendship for Gale in a long time and he hadn't felt anything for me. Not since that day in the woods… pushing the thought from my mind I sought out Prim in the crowd.

I started to panic when I couldn't see her, had they done something to her? But there she was, she was so small that I nearly couldn't see her, but she went on her tip toes to see over the heads of the other thirteen year olds.

Effie Trinket stood, for once not her usual over excited self, and walked to centre stage.

"Welcome district 12 to the 50th annual Hunger games" She was met with silence, and was I imagining it or did she Effie sound like she was going to cry?

"Ladies first" No I can't be imagining it, she defiantly sounded like she was about to cry, I saw her walk over to the first of 4 bowls. She put her hand in and pulled out the only slip of paper.

"Katniss Everdee-"She couldn't finish as she choked on her sobs, but it was my name and my throat still caught when she said it. I stood up. Keeping hold of Peter's hand the whole time, even if it was a bit awkward with him sitting down and me standing up.

She walked over to the third bowl which I could see had exactly two slips of paper in, obviously she had forgotten all about 'Ladies first' and was just doing 'victors first'. She pulled out a slip and walked back to centre stage, opening it she read,

"Peter M-"She couldn't even read his second name, she had always loved Peter. He stood next to up next to me, shooting Haymich a look that said 'keep your mouth closed' Haymich had already opened his mouth but snapped it shut again at Peter's look. Effie looked like she wanted to slap Haymich, obviously not seeing Peter's expression, but Haymich just stared back at her, used to her giving him these looks.

Effie, tears now streaming down her face looked once more at me and Peter standing together hand in hand before walking back to the second bowl. This time, there were thousands of names in there and she picks out the first one she reaches. She opens the slip of paper,

"Omg" she says, there is a murmur of voices among the crowd and even a small part of me- the crazy, insane part- thought that there was no one in district twelve called 'Omg,' I almost laugh at the thought. I stop thinking altogether when Effie lets out a long shriek so loud I nearly cover my ears, I stare at her incredulously. She starts shouting at me, screaming my name,

"Katniss I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry, I didn't mean to, Katniss, omg, Katniss no, please, Katniss, I'm so sorry!" I run to where she is standing, thinking that maybe the enhancements that she has had done over the years has finally broken her, but no, I'm the broken one, with or without capital enhancements.

She has dropped the slip of paper and as I bend to pick it up I see that it has fallen open and I see the name written.

'Primrose Everdeen'

I'm dead.

I must be dead.

Peter comes to help me up, but I push him off.

My thoughts are racing. How could Prim be picked twice in two years? How could _Effie_ pick Prim twice in two years? I can't save her this time. No one will save her this time. Then one thought over powers the rest.

_Snow._

I can vaguely feel Peter trying to help me up again, and this time I let him. Effie has been escorted off and the new head peacekeeper comes on to read the tributes names.

"Primrose Everdeen" I hear him say, he sounds bored with his deep rough voice, and even though I'm expecting it, it still feels like there are knives in my heart.

I see her walk through the crowd of parting 13 year olds, head held high, and I am so proud of her. I make my decision right then. I'm going to die; I'm going to be the third to last to die. I will fight so that only me, Prim and Peter are the last ones left, and then I will kill myself, knowing that Peter will do the same. Prim will come home.

I. Will. Be. The. Third. Last. To. Die.

I promise myself that I will do anything to make sure this happens.

The head peacekeeper asks if there are any volunteers, but no one puts their hand up.

I hate all of them.

Peter has sat back down with his head in his hands. I am holding Prim in my arms and we stand at the back of the stage.

The peacekeeper, who I now hate, walks over to the last bowl, I don't even care who it is anymore I just need to get home and prepare. Distantly I think that the people in the Capital will be ecstatic when they watch the district twelve reapings.

I hear the deep growl of his voice again and look up, I only catch the last bit of his sentence, the part where he says this year's district twelve boy tribute,

"Gale Hawthorne"

I will be the fourth last to die.

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><p><strong>AN: Please R&R :)**

**xo**


	4. Effie

**A/N: Sorry i've been away for a while, just a short chapter i don't have much time today but i'm away this week so can't upload more till next week, but will do as soon as possible :)**

**xox**

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><p>I wake up and see five people standing around my bed. I know who they are even before my eyes have adjusted to the light, I can name the only six people who care if I live or die, and one of them is in the capitol.<p>

Prim.

Gale.

Peeta.

Mother.

Haymich- I'm a bit unsure of the 'care' part for Haymich, but he wanted me to live in the games before and I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything recently to change that.

Cinna- who's in the Capitol on a fashion tour.

Prim throws her arms around me and I hold her tight, the memories coming back to me. I look round at the people who are now in danger. Prim. Gale. Peeta.

Haymich is the first to talk,

"Effie's upstairs in your room. She passed out after she heard Gale's name. A bit like you sweetheart."

He smiles and winks at me.

It is times like this when I love Haymich, he doesn't ask me if I'm 'OK' because it's unlikely that I ever will be, he doesn't break down and cry. He just tells me what I want to know. It takes me a while to realise that I'm lying on the kitchen table and I sit up, swinging my legs off.

I stand up, Peeta and Gale both reach out to steady me but I manage to stay on my feet, only swaying a little.

My mother, after seeing that I could stand, goes to make hot drinks for everyone and to check on Effie. Prim trails behind her with Haymich trying to bribe her to try one of his drinks.

"Haymich" I growl at his back. He looks over his shoulder and grins at me.

Peeta frowns at me, "You should be resting"

"When did the reaping finish?" I ask, ignoring his question as 'resting' is not going to get me anywhere at the moment. Gale answer's my question knowing that I won't rest at a time like this.

"Yesterday, it finished pretty quickly after you went down, Peeta here caught you when you fell and carried you back here. The peacekeeper didn't know what to do with Effie, and he didn't have the keys to the other houses in Victor's village, so we said we would take her in." He finishes proudly smiling at me. I scowl at him. Doesn't he realise that Effie is the reason Prim is in the games, doesn't he realise that she is the reason _he _is in the games. The scowl is quickly wiped of my face when I realise that it's not Effie's fault at all.

_Snow._

It's Snow I'm sure it is, I don't know how he's done it but having me, Peeta, Gale and Prim all in the same games. It isn't a coincidence.

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><p>The rest of the day passes quickly, I think a lot about how Snow could have rigged the reaping but nothing comes to mind. Gale has been giving me weird looks all day, he knows when I'm concentrating from all those times hunting in the woods. I would tell him, but I know that there are cameras everywhere, even in my own house.<p>

Somewhere in the back of my mind a voice is saying _'There will be no more woods with Gale… or Peeta… or little Prim.' _But I push it down until I can't hear it anymore.

Gale walks over to me while I'm sitting by the fire, "You know it's not Effie's fault we are all in this position."

"I know, but I can't help it, she pulled out Prim's name twice Gale!"

"I know Catnip, but what are you going to do? Murder him?"

"If I see him I'll try my very best" I whisper under my breath, I know he can hear me but decides to drop it.

We all eat dinner together, mother has made an extra big meal, whether to make us put on weight before the games or to attempt at cheering us up or both I don't know, either way I was grateful for the food.

The only people who weren't at dinner were Haymich and Effie, Haymich went home after he got too drunk to stand, and Effie has either been sleeping all day or avoiding me and I think I know which one it is. I went up to see her once, she had her back to me but I'm pretty sure I saw her tense as I came into the room. As soon as I saw her, a wave of anger went through my body, even after what Gale told me. I know it wasn't her fault but I can't stop the hatred that I feel when I look at her. I walked out without saying a word.

Gale and Peeta went home after both saying goodbye about seven times, eventually I just snapped and told them to go or I would make them go, they left pretty quickly. I decided that Effie could stay where she was in my bed, she would probably sneak out in the night anyway, and I would just sleep on the sofa downstairs. Prim offered me her room, but she needs her sleep if she's going to have enough energy in the arena.

As soon as everyone goes to bed I make myself a hot chocolate and sit on the sofa in front of the fire with blankets pooled around me. I think over the reaping- or what I remember of it- and think about how Snow could have rigged it. I couldn't come up with anything, so I finished my hot chocolate and snuggled down into the sofa.

I watched the fire slowly burn out, and fell asleep thinking about how much I hated Snow and the Capital.

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><p>I woke up to someone shrieking so loud that even from downstairs I had to cover my ears. I could cancel out Prim, even she couldn't make that loud noise. It was Effie or my mother. I ran up the stairs, taking three at a time and saw Prim run out of her room, her hair sticking up all over the place. We looked at each other before tearing down the hall towards my mother's room. Finding it empty I ran ahead of Prim to Effie's room. As I opened the door I first saw my mother, crouched on the floor. I ran over to her before realising that she was not hurt at all. Effie was still 'sleeping,' lying in the exact same position that I saw her in yesterday, but something was different.<p>

She was lying in a pool of blood.

Prim, being a natural nurse, ran over and placed two fingers on the side of Effie's neck, then the same two fingers on the inside of Effie's wrist. Looking up at me she shook her head slowly, tears streaming down her face.

Effie was dead.

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><p><strong>AN: R&R :) Please don't hate me**

**xo**


	5. Gale

**A/N: Heyy, sorry i haven't updated in a while, tryed to make this chapter extra long to make up for it :) Promise more coming soon.**

**xox**

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><p>My first reaction was to run away from the smell of blood that filled the room, it smelled like Snow and Snow was danger. But if even my mother screamed at the sight then it must be bad. My mother had seen many wounds in her lifetime, tending to the people in the village. I couldn't see the wound because Effie was facing away from me, but when I saw that even Prim was going pale from the sight, I decided I was going to stay well away from that side of the room.<p>

"Come on" I said to my mother who was still cowering on the floor. When I reached out to touch her however, she shrank back and I frowned. Me and her weren't close but we spoke to each other and recently she had been hugging me more and more often. I reached over to her again and this time she screeched at me,

"Stay away from me!"

I was so shocked by what she had said that I did as I was told and quickly backed towards the door, I looked over to where Prim stood but she wouldn't look me in the eye.

"Prim?" I asked, knots were tying in my stomach. Prim walked over to where mother still crouched sobbing and put her arms around her. Mother didn't screech at her or tell her to go away, just sank into Prims arms, putting her arms around Prims neck.

"I think you should go now Katniss." The sound of my sisters voice shocked me, there was no emotion behind the words, no kindness in them, even though I was looking straight at my dead escort who I had grown fond of throughout the past year.

"GO KATNISS!" I had never heard my sister shout before, but now she shouted like I was a threat to her, like I was the one who did this.

"LEAVE, JUST GO KATNISS!"

I ran from the room, leaving my little sister and mother both sobbing, crouched on the floor. I couldn't make sense of it all, they had both seen people die before. We lived in district twelve for goodness sake! They had even seen people we knew die on our own Kitchen table! I didn't know what was going on. The events from when I had woken up only fifteen minutes ago were just a jumble in my head. I ran out the front door, planning to run until I had no more energy left in me to crawl even one more centimetre. But then I saw Peeta's house, and I knew that's where I would go. I ran to his front door before realising I had left the key he gave me in my room, and I wasn't going back into that house. I pounded my fists on the door and eventually a wide eyed Peeta opened the door.

Seeing my bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks he immediately pulled me in for a hug and kicked the door shut. He picked me up in his arms and brought me into the living room, sitting on the sofa with me in his lap, he rocked me back and forth making shushing noises that, to my surprise, helped me calm down.

"What is it?" I felt more than heard him say as my head was buried in his chest.

"Effie's dead" I sobbed, I felt him stiffen, he stopped rocking me and pulled me face up so that I was looking him in the eyes.

"Katniss" he said looking at me, "I know it's hard. But you and Effie were never close"

I knew he was right and I wasn't crying because Effie was dead I was crying because my mother and Prim, two of the six people who cared about me, had rejected me. I knew that Peeta didn't know this yet, so he would find it strange that I was crying. We had both seen people dead before. We were in the games. But it still hurt to hear him say that.

I jumped off of him and grabbed the nearest thing I could find. His sketch pad was on the coffee table behind me and I hurled it at his head. He was so shocked that he didn't catch it and the corner hit just below his eye. He reached up to where the bruise was already forming and looked at me through his left eye.

"Katniss, what's wrong?"

"Just stay away from me! You don't know anything! Effie's dead and all you can say is that I wasn't close to her?"

He ran over to me, forgetting all about his eye and holding my shoulders,

"No, no, no" I see it in his eye's that he's just realised what he said, "I didn't mean it like that. What happened?"

He pulled me onto the sofa again as I started to explain what happened.

"When I went into the room I saw Effie on the bed, and there was lots of blood." I swallowed remembering the sight, I could tell I was talking like a small child, but I didn't want to go into great lengths about what I saw. Peeta seemed to understand this and squeezed the hand which I hadn't realised he was holding.

"Then I saw my mother on the floor crying and I went over to her and she.." I was sobbing again by this point, choking on my words, "She didn't want me to touch her." I rushed on, "She pushed me away and screamed at me to leave, and I didn't know what I did and then Prim wouldn't look at me, and then she told me to leave as well, and then I left because they don't want me" I sobbed into Peeta's chest, I had no idea why I was this upset.

My mother hadn't spoken to me for months when my father died. And I hadn't seen Prim for the whole time that I was in the games.

Luckily Peeta didn't ask any more questions, probably afraid of me losing it again, and just held me while I cried. When I eventually stopped crying, Peeta got up to get me a warm drink and left me to go talk to my family.

I sat alone on Peeta's sofa for what felt like forever before I finally saw him walk into the room and come over to me. But he didn't touch me.

I saw the look in his eyes which told me he knew something didn't.

"You didn't finish your drink?" He asked lightly, smiling at me. In fact I had never even started my drink, but that wasn't the point.

"Peeta…" I warned, he knew I knew.

"Katniss, I love you, you know that right?" he rushed out. I stared at him in shock, of course I knew he loved me but why was he telling me?

"I…" Before I could say anything else, the room was flooded with peacekeeper's, they pulled Peeta away from me and he stood at the other side of the room, looking at the floor while they surrounded me. I didn't know what was going on, it was obvious they had come for me but what had I done? I know Snow hated me and I tried to think if I had done anything at all to upset him, but I couldn't come up with anything. I hadn't been in the forest, I hadn't spoken against him, I hadn't really spoken to anyone at all, I was still 'In love' with Peeta, whether the love was real or not I still didn't know. Then I realised, when Peeta had come in, I hadn't heard the door shut. He had left it open for them.

"Peeta?" I asked,

"I'm sorry Katniss." I could see the pain in his eyes and I knew it wasn't his fault, if the peace keepers had asked him to leave the door open, he had to leave the door open. The peace keepers were pulling me towards the door now and I knew I couldn't leave Peeta like this.

"I love you too Peeta" I shouted across the room, that was the first time I had ever told him this and he looked up at me, I saw his eyes just before they pulled me around the corner into the hallway. We walked through the door and I pulled away from their grip on my shoulders, I could walk myself. I started to make my way towards the justice building expecting for them to follow before I felt a hand on my shoulder pulling me towards my house. I was surprised, usually if I had done something then they would put me in one of the cell's in the justice building while they decide what to do with me, they couldn't use any of the new instruments in the town square because I still had photo shoots and interviews, they couldn't really harm me at all so they just let me go after a day or two. Maybe they decided this time it wasn't worth going through all the paperwork.

As we entered my silent home the head peacekeeper pulled me into the small office that was hardly ever used.

I smelt him before I saw him, the blood and rose stench hit me like a wave as soon as the door opened.

He sat behind the desk with his hands folded on the table and smiled at me as I sat down on the chair across from him. The head peacekeeper who brought me in closes the door and stands in front of it.

"Can someone please tell me what's happening?" I ask,

"Effie's dead" Snow tells me, I had the childish urge to say 'well duh' but I held it back, knowing that wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"OK" I said instead,

"You killed her."

"WHAT?" How could he say that, I would never do that to Effie, ok so I had killed before, but that was for his sick, twisted entertainment. "No I didn't!"

"We have proof if you would like to see it" he smiles at me, it's obvious he's enjoying this and I want to wipe the smirk off of his face. Then I think, he's accusing me of murder, and I'm going back into the games, I have nothing to lose. So I leap across the table at him, I manage to get my hands around his neck before the peacekeeper pulls me off of him.

"I HATE YOU, I NEVER KILLED EFFIE!" I scream at him. Seemingly unfazed by my attack and outburst, he smiles again at me as I struggle to get to him again, but I know it's impossible. I'm on my feet now but the peacekeeper has my hands in a firm grip behind my back.

" Would you like to see the evidence?" He asks me,

"It doesn't matter what evidence you have, it's going to be fake" I snarl at him.

"Oh no, my dear, this evidence is real" he laughs lightly, "All of the evidence is real, that's the beauty of it" His eyes sparkle and he laughs again, not hiding his hatred of me. He reaches into the draw of the desk and pulls out a laptop. I have never seen one before and even in my state, admire the beauty of it. I don't think even the mayor has one of these.

He opens the lid and clicks on a little box, the box opens up a video and as he plays it I realise that the video is of my room, where Effie was sleeping. I nearly get sick by the idea of Snow watching my every move, having the choice to watch me while I sleep, it reminds me of how twisted he can be. He fast forwards and you can see the sun go down outside the window, and then plays it at a normal speed when you see the door of my room open.

The door opens and I walk in.

"WHAT!" I scream at the screen, I have no memory of ever walking in to my room last night. Snow smirks at me again but I turn my attention back to the laptop. I take a closer look at myself and I can see that my eyes are shut. I was sleep walking. I walk over to where Effie is sleeping and stand facing her for 48 minutes. Exactly 48.

Then I lift my hand, and for the first time I notice the knife I'm holding. I raise it above my head.

I turn away before I see myself killing my escort.

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><p>I leave the office calmly and see my mother and Prim sitting on the sofa in the living room opposite me. I don't say a word.<p>

I walk up to my room before remembering Effie. I abruptly turn around and walk to the towel cupboard and sit next to the pipe that runs from one end of the room to the other. I fold my knees underneath me, put my head on a towel that I dragged to the floor and cry until I have no more tears left. I fall asleep like that and minutes, hours, days later I wake up feeling sick.

When my head clears I go downstairs to make something to eat. Luckily no one's in the kitchen and I make some plain toast and get some water. As I fill up my glass I think about what Snow said to me.

…

"_So, what's my punishment then?" I asked,_

"_I think living here is the best punishment for now, living in a house where no one will speak to you is a good punishment I believe" He said, he smiled at me and told me I could leave._

…

He was right.

I would have much rather lived in a prison cell where family don't have a choice to see me or not than live in a house where they are choosing not to speak to me. At least in a cell I could have imagined that they were begging the peacekeepers to see me. Living here I know that they aren't bothered about whether I live or die.

I walk back up to my cupboard feeling like I was forgetting about something.

On the top step, that sick feeling comes back and I rush to the bathroom and instantly get sick. That's where I see them.

I count back the days. Then double count. Then triple count.

I was two weeks late. I was never late. I was always on time.

Then I think back to that night.

…

_I woke up from the same nightmare. The same idea's playing over and over in my head. I run downstairs before remembering Peeta had gone to see his parent's new bakery in the capital. My mother and Prim were in town with a patient and Haymich was probably already drunk. I look at the clock in the kitchen, which tells me it's 2am. I try to call Cinna but the phone lines are down. Not that anyone would notice. _

_I decide to go to Gale, and run out the house with only my pyjama bottoms and tank top on._

_I run all the way there but I'm still freezing by the time I knock on the door. A grumpy looking Gale answer's but his eyes light up when he sees me._

"_Hey Katnipp" he whisper,_

"_Hi" I whisper back._

_He invites me in and we sit on the sofa while I tell him about my dream. It feels weird telling Gale and not Peeta about my dreams, but Gale has always been there for me. He comforts me and we talk about small things until he suddenly leans in and kisses me. I don't pull away._

_It's different than mine and Peeta's kiss which is always sweet and soft and gentle, this kiss has more fire. Just like Gale._

…

I sink to the floor in my bathroom.

I slept over at Gales that evening. On that sofa. I hold my stomach.

With Gale.

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><p><strong>AN: Please don't hate me. Review pleaseeee, need to know if i made the right choice or not. Also i'm planning on doing one of those things where people submit their own tributes, but i'm not sure if it's a good idea because there's 46 tributes left and i dont think i have enough people to do that, please inbox me with what you think :) **

**R&R:)oxox**


	6. Peeta and Gale

**A/N: Sorry i haven't uploaded in a while, have had school and stuff sooo yeh, shorter chapter this time but hoping to write some more stuff soon :) xox**

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><p>I stayed in that cupboard for the next three days, coming out only for food and water.<p>

I went down one day and heard Haymich in the office explaining to my mother that they needed more time to prepare for the games because there was double the amount of tributes this year. We would be getting the train sometime next week.

I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. I saw an unopened bottle of some type of alcohol and reached towards it before remembering that it wasn't only my body that I would be damaging. I grabbed a bottle of water and went back to my cupboard.

After three days I came out to find that it was the day of Effie's funeral, my mother and Prim had gone to the capital to pay their respects.

No one even told me.

On the third day Gale came to see me. He walked in using his key to unlock the door and I stood waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey katnip" he greeted me as usual but was giving me concerned looks, I knew it was because I didn't usually wait for him at the bottom of the stairs in the same clothes I had been wearing three days ago.

"We need to talk" I said bluntly, I realised this was the best time to do it. There was only us two in the house and I had to tell him before the games anyway.

"OK" he replied, drawing out both letters so that the one word lasted about seven seconds.

I walked into the kitchen where I knew he would follow me. I walked around the island so that it was between us and stood straight with my hands at my side, head up.

"What's going on?" Gale said lightly, but I knew him too well and could hear the worry in his voice even though he was smiling.

"I'm pregnant." I let out the breath I didn't realise I was holding and looked at him straight in the eye.

Gale's smile slid from his face,

"What," he whispered,

I scowled at him,

"I said I'm pregnant" I nearly shouted at him, it was hard enough to say it the first time, did he really have to make me say it again?

"I'm going to kill him!" he shouted so suddenly that it made me jump, I was used to the silent Gale that I hunted with in the woods.

"Wait. What?" I said, who did he want to kill? Himself? It was his fault after all. I then realised that maybe he didn't think it was his fault, maybe he thought it was Peter's. "Gale, it's yours!" I shouted at him.

"Oh," He blinked at me before rushing at me and lifting me off the ground. "Wait are you sure it's mine?" he rushed out, "because I mean if it's his then.." he scowled, "I mean I know you said it's mine but.."

"Gale, Gale!" I shouted as he mumbled on, he looked up at me, "Yes I'm sure it's yours." He lifted me off the ground again.

"Woahh Gale, are you forgetting where we're going next week?" He put me down and I saw the excitement leave his eyes.

"Oh." Was all he said.

"Oh?"

"Well then you'll just have to try and win"

"But what about Prim?"

"Well you and him came out the last time so why not again?"

I raised my eyebrows at him,

"Him? And who's him Gale?"

His cheeks reddened and he bowed his head, letting his hair fall into his eyes, "You know…_ Peeta"_

He said Peeta's name so quietly that I nearly didn't hear him but I let the subject drop anyway, knowing that if I dragged it out I was only going to make it worse. I was also going to ask him if he remembered the last time me and _him _came out of the games alive. There was no way Snow was having two victors this year.

I pushed Gale away from me so that he would look at me instead of at the ground.

"You know that I have to tell Peeta about this"

"Yes" was all he said, but I could see the smirk he was trying to hold back. I walked away from him.

"Katniss come on!" He chased after me as I left the room.

I spun around to face him, "Peeta is going to be so devastated by this and all you can do is smile about it?" I shouted my voice getting higher and higher as I go.

"I'm not smiling" He said as he stood there grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes. You are." I frowned at him and turned to walk away again.

"Come on Katniss! Aren't you even a little bit happy about this?" He trudged after me.

"No Gale. No I am not." I heard him stop behind me and realised what I had just said wrong. I turned around slowly and saw him standing there. All traces of a smile gone from his face.

"I mean, I'm going back into the games!" I tried to recover from my mistake, why did I always have to say the wrong thing! I was always stumbling over my words, "I barely made it out the last time, and this time there's double the amount of people."

He came over to hug me and held my face against his chest, "It's OK Katniss," he whispered, "I'm not going to let anyone touch you."

Not exactly the reaction I was looking for but this would do.

"I need to tell him Gale," I said into his chest,

"I know. Do you want me to come?"

I pulled away and laughed, "Gale, Peeta is one of the friendliest people I know, he's not an axe murderer!"

"You never know," Gale's face creased in concentration, which made me laugh even harder, I tried to imagine Peeta holding anything more dangerous than a paintbrush but couldn't conjure the image. Gale smiled at me and I knew the awkward conversation had passed.

"So when are you going to tell him?"

My laughter died away and I sighed, "Now? There's no point in waiting, he's going to find out sooner or later."

"OK." He took a deep breath, "Wow," he said and looked towards my stomach, "I can't even believe it."

"This isn't a good thing you know!" I scowled at him again but he only laughed.

"OK if you say so Katniss"

"I do" I said and smirked at him. He grinned back at me before giving me one last friendly hug and left to go back home. I walked out after him and started to walk towards Peeta's house.

'_Time for round two'_ I think as I knock three times on Peeta's front door.

* * *

><p>"You're what!" Peeta shouted after I repeated those dreadful words for the third time. "But we haven't…" He trailed off, looking at me in horror. "You didn't"<p>

I looked at the floor feeling like I was about to cry. I still didn't know what I felt for Peeta but I knew I was pretty damn close to loving him. I looked up and found him staring at me his eyebrows coming together which I knew meant that he was upset.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, I didn't know what else to say and I hated it when Peeta wasn't speaking to me.

"It's not your fault Katniss," He said as he looked anywhere but at me.

I had no idea what to say to him, it was obvious that it was my fault and it was obvious that he knew it was my fault. Even if he didn't want to admit it.

_He would never do anything like this to you, _a voice whispered in my head. I immediately stopped thinking, knowing that if I started thinking things like that, then I would break down here and now.

"I can't believe him!" He shouted, breaking the silence, his hands balling into fists at his side,

"No Peeta it wasn't his fault, it just happened. I didn't mean for it to happen!" I tried to defend my best friend/ father of my child.

"When?" He demanded,

"What?"

"When did it happen?" He shuddered.

"When you were visiting your parents," I whispered. He stared at me in shock and started to count on his fingers.

"Nearly two months," He mumbled looking back up at me. All of a sudden I couldn't look him in the eyes and I looked down at my feet, annoyed with myself that I was so weak. I heard Peeta walk out of the room but I didn't follow him. I looked up to where he had just left but could only see about a metre of the corridor leading from the kitchen to the front door. Suddenly Peeta was walking back past the front room towards the front door. With a knife clenched in his fingers.

Suddenly it wasn't a funny image anymore.

* * *

><p>By the time it took for my brain to register what I had just seen I had run out of the door to stop Peeta, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I knew where he was headed and ran towards Gale's house. I knew all of the short cuts and just hoped that I would get there in time.<p>

As soon as I reached his house, so similar to my old home, I slammed my fists against the door. It was opened by a very scared looking Hazelle whose frown instantly slid off her face when she realised that it was me.

"Gale, where is he?" I blurted out as soon as she opened the door.

"Hunting I think, although he had a pretty good haul yesterday so I'm pretty sure he didn't really need…" Her voice trailed off when she realised that I had shot off after the word 'Hunting.'

I ran as fast as I could towards the meadow where we normally entered the woods but skidded to a stop as soon as it was in view.

I could see clearly where Gale stood not ten metres from the other side of the fence, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

I could also see the bloody mess lying at his feet.

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><p><strong>AN: Please don't hate me!**

**R&R :) xx**


	7. The train

**A/N:** Sorry i haven't updated in ageessss, my only exuse is exams :l Only a short chapter today but i promise after my exams which finish in like 2 and a bit weeks there will be loads more chapters :) xox

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><p>No one knew.<p>

It was talked about in the town where ever I went.

"It's so horrible"

"I can't believe a bear would just attack him like that"

A bear. That's what they were told. A bear. This was about the boy who had already won the games and was preparing for another. How could anyone be so blind? Only me, Gale, My mother, Haymich and Cinna knew the truth, and Snow of course.

I can't believe he's gone.

I shouldn't be mad at Gale, it was self-defence really. But I can't help it. He took away one of the most important people in my life. He hasn't spoken to me at all.

Today's the day. I wake up from another nightmare, sweat dripping from my forehead, and reach over the bed to find it's empty. Again. It always will be.

I trudge downstairs and grab some toast before making my way to the meadow. I just stand there, in the same place I stood when I saw him leave me. In the same place where I saw him die. Eventually I sit down and curl into a ball, rocking myself back and forth. Haymich comes and picks me up, no sarcasm flowing from his mouth for once. He carries me home and hands me to my mother who lays me down on the sofa.

I fall asleep again, I forget what happens in my dream but I wake up with Effie's voice, 'it's going to be a big, big day!' ringing in my ears. But no, Effie's gone as well, I made that happen. I am the reason she's not here. I am the reason Peeta's not here.

Haymich is taking Peeta's place in the games, which means we have no one to sort out our sponser gifts. We were allowed to choose one person. Cinna was chosen almost automatically.

My mother comes in with a steaming mug of hot coco, I drink it quickly not caring that it's burning my throat.

Gale and Haymich turn up at the door and I get up, knowing it's time to go. I walk into the hallway and see Gale for the first time since that day. His eyes have sunken into his head and it looks like he hasn't shaven, his mouth is turned down in a frown and his shoulders slump forward. I look away.

We leave the house silently and walk to the train station, there are cameras everywhere but I try to ignore them and just take Prim's hand. As soon as we are on the train Gale stalks off to his room and me and Prim go and sit on the sofa where the waiter brings us both large mugs of hot coco. Haymich has gone somewhere, probably to find some liquor.

As the train starts moving I think,

_I still can't believe he's gone._

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><p><strong>AN:** Again so sorry it's late... R&R :) xox


	8. On the train

A/N: Hey guys, so I know I haven't been on in ages, I think I lost inspiration for a while and I just couldn't do it. I've just finished exams so here's another chapter for anyone who kept up with it I'm sorry if there are a few mistakes with the story line, I can't remember much of what happened or what I had in my head so there may be mistakes. Xo

I find my way through the carriages, passing through the living area bit where Gale and Prim sit with Haymitch going through some strategies they could use, and explaining to Prim what he explained to me and Peeta last year.

_Peeta._

They look up as I walk in and I look at each of them in turn. First Prim, who looks at me with those big eyes of hers, searching for something in my face, I don't know what.

Then Gale, who looks first at me, then at my stomach before moving his eyes back up to my face.

And finally Haymitch who looks at me as if he feels sorry for me, which was worse than either Prim or Gale. I carry on walking. As I walk out I hear Gale stand up as if to follow me, but Haymitch stops him, which I'm grateful for, I don't want to see him just yet.

I find my cabin quickly and lie on the bed facing the wall. I pull the covers up over my head and hold my stomach. I feel like I should be crying but the tears don't come.

Eventually I drift off to sleep but I wake when I feel the jerk of the train stopping as the train needs refuelling. I sit up too fast and throw up into the bin beside the bed.

_That wasn't there when I came in_.

I look up and see Gale asleep in the armchair by the window. I don't know what to feel when I look at him, a part of him is growing inside me and I already love the baby without even realising I had let myself love it.

But he killed Peeta before I got the chance to love him properly. I have always loved Gale and even now I still do, but is it the same as the love I had for Peeta? I don't know. It's different. When I look at Gale I feel a burning in the pit of my stomach and I feel safe in his arms, it's a strong and fiery feeling, much like Gale himself. But with Peeta it was different, when I saw him I melted a little, it was a softer kind of love, like Peeta himself. Did that mean it was weaker? Do I love Gale more? It's all so confusing and thinking about it makes my head spin.

What I know for sure is that Peeta's gone, Gale is here and I am carrying his child.

I think back and realise that all the time when I thought Gale was avoiding me since Peeta's death, I've been wrong. I've been avoiding him, and I feel a wave of guilt wash over me. Gale is only trying to help, this is his child too, and he killed Peeta in self-defence. Peeta who wouldn't hurt a fly unless he had to would have surely killed Gale with the amount of rage that had filled him that afternoon.

"Gale," I whisper, and when he doesn't wake up I call him a little louder, "Gale!"

His eyes spring open and he looks around the room before looking at me,

"Are we there yet?" He asks,

"No, we've just stopped to re-fuel," I tell him before waving my hand in a gesture which tells him to come over to me. He stands up and slowly walks towards me.

"Lie down with me for a bit," he seems startled and asks,

"Are you sure?"

"Yes" I pull the covers back and make space for him; he gets in and pulls the covers back over us, putting his arm around me as I bury my face in the crook of his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I whisper into his chest. He relaxes around me and says,

"Katnip, you have nothing to be sorry for, it's me who should be apologizing"

"No Gale, you did what you had to do and I hated you for it. And that was wrong I'm sorry," It's hard for me to say the words, I hated admitting that I was wrong but it felt right to say them, Gale pulls me closer,

"It's alright Katnip, it's ok." The train starts to move again and we lie there in silence for a while before I ask how Prim was holding up, Gale gives me a run through of what happened while I was asleep, "Prim is as well as she could be, she's stronger than you think you know. She's calm and she's eating well, Haymitch has taught her a few techniques of what to do when she's scared or by herself, just in case the group is split.

"I won't let that happen, I can't" I tell him forcefully,

"I know it's just a precaution," he says calmly, which makes me feel a little better, "I sent her off to bed when I came in here a few hours ago, she needs to rest." I'm glad he took care of her which is more than I could have done with my frame of mind.

"So you only slept for a few hours in that uncomfortable chair?" I asked,

"I was fine," he says, but I can tell he's exhausted,

"Go to sleep now," I tell him, "We both need some rest before we get there."

We fall asleep in each other's arms, his hand resting on my stomach.

I wake when I hear the train stop once more. I lift my head to look over Gale's shoulder and out the window.

We've arrived.

A/N: I'm sorry if it's a little rough, reviews would be helpful (: xo


	9. Arrival

I find Prim before we leave the train. Even though there is all this mayhem happening, I still want to be with her when we first arrive in the Capital. I hold her hand and, contrary to my belief, she doesn't pull away. I turned my shocked face towards hers and she looks up and smiles at me. I know then that she has forgiven me for what I did to Effie; it's good that she has because I still haven't.

We walk out of the train behind Gale and Haymitch, we've arrived at a private platform because the organisers saw the crowd on the main platform as 'unsafe' from all their cheering and didn't want us to get hurt when we were escorted off. Which is pretty ironic seeing as they're sending us into a game to kill each other.

We're escorted to the top floor of the building and left to our own devices. Seeing as Effie is dead, they haven't yet assigned us a new escort and so our activities for the next two days have been cancelled and we are to stay on our floor. This is fine with me, the only thing we would have been doing is training with other contestants and I am in no mood to see that many people just yet.

It dawns on me that only Gale and I know about my pregnancy and I think for now I want to keep it that way. I tell them I need to rest and find a room containing a double bed, draws, a wardrobe and a huge bathroom with one of those complicated showers I had on my last visit. I claim this room as my bedroom and lie on the bed face up, on top of the covers, arms spread wide. I stare at the ceiling and realise three things. 1- I am no longer tired. 2- I'm hungry. 3- There are no windows.

I stand up and walk around the room; I don't want to listen to Haymitch going over strategy plans although in the back of my head I do realise I will need to sit down with him soon. So going into the Kitchen is not an option, that's alright though, I've had enough practise at being hungry in District 12.

I decide I want a breath of fresh air and I leave my room to try and find the stairs leading up to the roof. I emerge onto the roof and breath in, walking towards the side where I can look down on the citizens of Panem with distaste. I don't even think about jumping and I know there's a force field which could stop me anyway, I wonder what incident caused them to put that in place.

I hear the door open then close behind me and think to myself that if it's Prim I'll talk to her about what she needs to do when we enter the arena. But when I turn around I find that Gale has followed me up here.

"Hi," he says shyly, walking slowly towards me, not knowing if I want him up here or not. I do, of course I do. I open my arms without saying anything and he envelops me in a hug, warming my body and letting me rest my head on his chest. He steps back and I turn back to look over the edge, he comes beside me and leans his arms on the ledge.

"So, are we going to talk about, you know," he looks at my stomach pointedly,

"The baby?"

He turns to face me, "yeh, that. Listen I just wanted to say I'm not sorry it happened, I'm sorry at the time at which it happened, obviously this probably isn't the most convenient time to be pregnant," he waves his hands around,

"I never really expected to have children at all" I say without thinking, like always it just comes out of my mouth,

"Oh," I can see the disappointment and hurt on his face,

"Not that I'm upset that it did, I just never thought about it before," I explain myself,

"Oh!" Gale's face lights up again, "Ok, well you know I'm here for you, I don't understand all of the… business about pregnancy but I'll try my best, and I'm going to love our child no matter what," I smile up at him,

"Me too, let's just take it day by day,"

"Ok… I can't believe I'm going to be a father," I punch him in the stomach, knowing that he's saying it just because we always made fun of those gooey parents, he protects himself and laughs at me picking me up and spinning me round before quickly putting me down again and turning me to face him, "are you ok?! Is that good for the baby? I didn't know" I laugh at his shocked face and he smiles at me, realising that neither I nor the baby are damaged.

"It's going to be weird having to be careful around you now," he says,

"If you're careful around me I will shoot you myself with poisoned arrows," I tell him in monotone, my face showing no expression.

He laughs at me and we make our way downstairs and into the kitchen where Prim is sitting at the table.

"Hey Prim," I glance up at the clock, reading it as 11pm, "Don't you think it's time you went to bed?"

"I will, as soon as I finish this," I look at what she's doing and see that she's found some paint from somewhere and has painted almost the whole table in flowers, all different kinds, roses, lilies, primroses.

"They're beautiful," I tell her, and they are. I never knew that Prim could paint like this, if I had I would have bought her some paints from somewhere, I had enough money after winning the games.

"Thank you, Peeta taught me," I felt like someone had stabbed me in the gut, but I just smiled,

"That's nice," I told her, walking towards the fridge to get something to eat. I boil the kettle to make some cocoa and hear her voice from behind me,

"Finished!" she announces, "I'll go to bed now and leave it to dry," she skips over to me, hugging my waist and kissing my cheek, "Night Katniss,"

"Night Prim," I watch her skip off towards the door across the hall from mine which is where she must have chosen her bedroom to be.

I sit at the table and eat the strawberries I had taken out of the fridge, slowly sipping at the hot cocoa. I put the strawberries back, deciding that they tasted disgusting but not wanting to throw away food and walk slowly to my bedroom to lie down in the same position I had earlier, thinking over what had happened to Peeta and what is happening to Gale.

At some point in the night I hear Gale come in and walk towards me, he climbs into the bed and puts his arm around me, holding me close. I bury my head in his chest and quickly fall asleep.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think, it would really help me. I'm sorry if the story isn't 100% accurate, I'm still trying to remember the story I had planned and what exactly happens in the book. Thanks for reading (: xo


	10. A Day of Rest

As I wake up I can feel the pressure of Gale's arm pressing against me. I move inch by inch until I am out of the bed, successfully not waking him in the process. I tiptoe to the door and close it silently behind me before walking through to the kitchen where Prim is already sitting at the newly painted table. I sit across from her and gently trace one of the flower patterns before my breakfast is placed in front of me by a blond haired avox. I say thank you and finish quickly, wanting to make the most of the day seeing as we don't have anything planned.

We've been told that we're not allowed to leave our floor so I walk around, figuring out where everything is- mentally planning an escape route

_Stop_

I hate that this is all I've gained from the games. Subconsciously I'm figuring out where to go in an emergency, always on edge, always seeing people as a threat. It's not like there would be a way out anyway.

I walk down the hall and turn the corner, accidently bumping into Gale.

"Woah" he grabs my shoulders, steadying us both, "I see you've gone exploring as well" he says,

"Great minds think alike" I tell him.

"Come and see what I found" he takes my hand and leads me back the way he just came, down one corridor, then another, and another. It surprises me how huge our floor is, I'm starting to think it's endless before he opens a door I didn't even notice was there and leads me into a room made completely out of glass. Well, not completely, the wall behind us is just a wall with a door. But apart from that, the three other sides are made from glass and the room is devoid of all objects.

"What is this room?" I ask,

"No idea, I thought it was the bathroom until I walked in, pretty cool huh?"

"Yeah, really cool" I tell him, I'm not as impressed as I seem but I play it up for his sake. "We should show Prim." We go to find prim and bring her back to the room, she seems a lot more enthusiastic than me and when we go to leave she tells us she wants to sit in there for a while.

I woke up wanting to start the day early and do something with it but after a couple of hours I realise that there isn't actually much to do.

I sit in the living room and read for a while but I don't have the patience to sit in silence for a long amount of time- which Gale liked to make fun of me for, telling me that I have never been nor ever shall be the quiet type.

I look in the kitchen for something to do but after one attempt at making brownies Gale quickly pushes me out of the kitchen door, telling me I wasn't allowed to go back in for the duration of our stay. I look up at the clock and groan when I see that it's only 3pm,

"Then what can I do?" I ask him,

"Try going for a nap, you need to rest before training starts," I reluctantly agree and make my way towards my bedroom. I'm convinced that I'm not tired enough to sleep but I surprise myself when, before I've even gotten comfortable, I've fallen into a deep sleep.

I'm woken by Gale pulling the covers off me and telling me that it's almost time for dinner. I'm alert within seconds and I stand up to follow him into the kitchen before a feeling washes over to me and I run to the bathroom where I just about manage to throw up into the toilet and not onto the floor. Gale holds my hair back as I finish and hands me the toothbrush I've been using so that I can wash my mouth of the taste.

"Are you ok?" he asks,

"Mhm, hungry" I grumble, he laughs,

"I'm not surprised, why don't you go and find prim and I'll tell the avox we'll be ready for dinner soon," I agree and walk across the hall to Prim's room,

"Prim?" I call, she's not in her room and I look fleetingly out the window, surprised at how dark it has gotten. I close her door and walk down the hall away from the kitchen, calling for Prim. After 5 minutes I remember where I saw her last and head to the glass room.

I open the door, "Prim?" I call,

"In here Katniss" her small voice calls back, I push the door open fully letting light from the hallway in, just making out the small shape on the floor. I turn the light on wandering why it was off in the first place and walk over to the middle of the room where prim is sitting cross legged bending over something. As she looks up at me I see what she has been doing, painting.

She's painted the skyline and the stars which can be seen clearly through the far glass wall. She's a good painter, Peeta taught her well.

"Do you like it?" She asks, looking up at me with a worried expression, I stroke her hair back from her face,

"I love it, you're a talented little sister" I smile at her, even after everything that's happened throughout both of our lives, she still has somehow managed to create something perfect. "Dinner's going to be ready soon," Prim smiles back at me and stands up, leaving her painting behind and takes my hand, I squeeze tight and we walk back to the kitchen where dinner has already been set on the table.

As we sit down, Prim next to me and Gale across from me I can't help but wish that every day was like this. Even though I was bored, I would take this life over the one I'm currently living any day.

* * *

><p><strong>A:N Just a quick chapter, I'm hoping to write more soon but it might take a while for the next chapter to go up as I would like to make it longer. Sorry for any mistakes, I may be contradicting what I have said in earlier chapters but as the story progresses it will hopefully get better.**

**Please review, it would really help me :) Thanks for reading xo**


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